Long Time No See

Well, I have once again fallen down on my responsibilities of blogging. Here is the recap from my previous blog. The Memphis Ultra put on our first run. The attendance was a little lower than we had hoped, but we know what to fix for next time. It was definitely a learning expirience. Be on the look out for some type of run in the fall. The next race was the Nashville Marathon. We had a large crew of family and friends all go stay in Nashville for the weekend. Some were running and some were spectating. I got to see my twin sister who lives in Knoxville. She was there to see her friend run the half. I like the Nashville Marathon. There is constantly something to look at and there are thousands of spectators. I ran the whole race with Holly. It was her first marathon. Although she has completed the Stump Jump 50K, she had yet to run a road marathon. I think she had a good time. She started to look kinda mean around mile 22 of the race. She put on her "Its time for this to end face". We ended up finishing together around 4:30. Check out the picture on her blog of us coming to the finish line. Our family only got one picture and I am completely blocking all of Holly. Oops. The next race was the Chatanooga Trail Marathon. We were supposed to have the original Stump Jump Crew heading back to Chatanooga but, Patrick and Holly ended up bailing out. So me and Drew headed out on Friday night, checked into the hotel, went to bed, woke up, ran a marathon and drove home. Round trip 24 hours & 10 minutes. It was fast. We ran pretty close together for most of the race. In the first half, we were trading spots but always within about a minute of each other. Then we joined up for the second half. Our splits were roughly the same. He ended up finishing about a minute in front of me around 4:39:00. On the non-running side of life, I have been running around like a crazy lunatic. This is the time of year when everyone wants some type of yardwork done. Long hours and too much crap to think about are driving me crazy. I don't understand how some people have made it this far in life without accidentaly wandering out in traffic. Some people are just idiots that have no clue. INSERT VERBAL ABUSE HERE. There must be something in the water. Anyway, I can bore you with my survival of the stupidest later. My wedding anniversary is on thursday of this week. It will be four years. Time flys. Ella kate is getting bigger by the day and she has started rolling over now. Claire is doing good working from the house and tending the tater tot. Her mom and sister come help out when Claire has to run to appointments. You already know about what I am up to. I have decided, that I need to try and juggle a little more running into my routine. I have slowly been whittling down my miles each week until for the past two weeks I have not run at all. Booo me. I am going to get back on the horse.

Hey People

Just checking in. Since my last post, I have set another personal best. I ran the Germantown Half Marathon in 1:38:42. Before that time, my fastest was 1:44:45. That is 6 minutes and 3 seconds faster!!!!! HUGE! I started out running at what I thought was a decent pace. My first mile was a 6:42. SLOW DOWN!!! My next mile was right at my target pace of 7:30. I felt pretty good initialy. I only had two problems in the whole race. The first was when I got a cramp from a gel that I ate at mile four. I got rid of it by drinking my whole water bottle over the course of a mile. When I got to the next aid station my second problem arose. I had my ipod cranked and was jamming out to some Phish. I was coming up to the aid station and I unscrewed the cap to my water bottle. I ran through, grabbed a cup, dumped it in my bottle, recapped the bottle and took a sip. BARF!!! I had grabbed a cup with Heed in it instead of water. That stuff is nasty. This was the second time in two races that this happened to me. (In the 50 miler, an aid station attendant grabbed my bottle and filled it up with heed instead of water. I didn't notice until I was blowin down the trail already.) I had no choice but to drink it and wait till the next aid station for water. I kept checking my watch as I got closer and saw that I was going to be close to 1:40:00. I wanted to be in the 1:30's so I decided to start pushing a little harder with about a mile and a half left. Coming into the finish, I turned it up a little more. The course has a hill in the last hundred yards that was trying to make me slow down but I pushed through it and ran to a 1:38:42 finish. Overall, it was a great race. It made me appreciate the trails a whole lot more. The road race scene is completely different than the trails. Road racing is like a Sailboat race. Everyone is going as fast as they can, with no time for anyone else. They just want to post the best time they can. The trails are like casually cruising around in a sailboat. Everyone is friendly and will talk to you all day long. Everyone is going to the same place but they appreciate the scenery and the experience much more. Yeah Trails!!!!

Anyway, don't forget to sign up for the 6 Hour Run. Spots a filling up fast and there are only a few days left until the early registration ends.

50 Miles to Freedom!!!!!!!

Earlier in the year Patrick and I decided to sign up for the Carl Touchstone Mississippi 50 Mile race. The day for the race came a lot quicker than I anticipated. That and the fact that I had never run any distance over 34 miles had me a little bit worried about not finishing. However, time was not going to wait on me to get in some extra training. So the day before the race, me, Holly, and Patrick set out on the road towards Laurel, Mississippi. We arrived friday night and set up our camp site 30 yards from the start/finish line. We then headed to the pasta dinner and race packet pick up. It was pretty cool to see wide array of people that showed up to do the race. Some were new like us and some were veterans with Western States Shirts, Boston Marathon shirts, and the like. It was really a motley crew. If you have ever seen an ultra marathon crowd, then you know what I am talking about. Soon we were back at camp and asleep to wake up the next day to try our hands at 50 miles. We woke up to people arriving at 4:00 am for the 6:00 am start. I made my coffee and ate some peanut butter on graham crackers. Soon we were toeing the starting line in the dark. The course was set up as a 12.5 mile loop that we had to complete four times. The first lap went down fairly easy. Patrick and I stayed together and kept our 12:00 minute/mile pace. We figured that we could easily do 12.5 miles in 2.5 hours. That would put us 1:15 minutes ahead of the time cut off. Amazingly, after the race started I didn't have any doubts that I was going to finish. In my mind, someone was going to have to physically take me down to make me fail. After the first two laps, I felt great. Holly had opted for the 20K earlier that morning and was supposed to run the third lap with me and Patrick. When we arrived at the end of the second lap she told me that she was going to wait and run the final lap with me. Cool!! Patrick and I set out for the third lap, keeping our same pace. We were a little bit behind because of stops at aide stations and bathroom breaks, so I was constantly trying to figure what pace we needed to be running. At some point around mile 27 or so, I did some terrible math and decided that we were not going to make the time cut off. I took off and started pushing it hard, leaving Patrick behind. I cranked my i pod and started laying it down. When I got a couple of miles down the trail, I started re figuring on the time and realized that we had plenty of time. At this point I decided that I would just go for it. When I got to the start/finish line at the end of the third lap, Holly was waiting on me. We took off and I new that I had 37.5 miles under my belt and only had 12.5 left. We walked a little bit and ran a little bit. Holly was behind me letting me set the pace. I was walking all of the uphills and sprinting the downhills. After running that route three times in a row already, I knew where to go hard and where to avoid obstacles. Soon we began to see people walking in front of us. This made me want to go faster. We began to pass people left and right. We probably picked off 8-12 people who had run out of gas. Around mile nine of the loop, there is a mile and a half out a back section down a gravel road. Holly told me that she was going to skip this and go ahead to the finish line so she could get my pictures as I came across. With just three and a half miles left, I knew that I was going to finish. Emotions began to flood over me when I was thinking about the accomplishment. I almost started to cry but quickly regained focus and started to pick people off on my way to the finish line. I crossed the line at 10 hours 43 minutes and 21 seconds!!!!! I now have one 50 miler under my belt. Which by the way has a new shiny gold buckle that was awarded to everyone who finished the 50 Miles. Patrick came in shortly after to complete his first 50 miler an get his belt buckle as well. After a short celebratory rest, we all three loaded into the car and headed back to Memphis. We got back into town around 12:00 that night. What a day.

Overall, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life.

I can't wait to do it again.

Races from 2007!!!!

I wanted to post my results from the races that I participated in last year so that I can remove them from the sidebar. Its hard to believe that it has only been a year since I started running. Just looking back on the the distance I have covered is amazing. It makes me feel like I actually did something beneficial to my body as well as my spirit.

03/18 G-town Mayor's Cup 5K- 24:010
4/01 Death Run 15 Mile- 2:28:290
4/28 Navshville Half Marathon- 2:01:590
5/19 Memphis in May Mountain Bike TriathlonSwim-23:07, Bike-55:57, Run-28:07= 1:52:570
6/01 Harbour Town 5K- 22:200
7/08 Overton Park 5K #1 RRS- 21:550
8/05 Freeman Park 5 Mile #1 RRS- 42:31
8/11 Bartlett Park Ultra 50K- 6:55:170
8/19 Freeman park 5 Mile #2 RRS- 39:51
10/06 Stumpjump (Rockjump)50K- 8:21:00
11/3 Wades Big Adventure 18M- 2:58:ish
11/19 Singleton Half Marathon- 1:44:45
12/01 Memphis St. Jude Marathon- 3:47:42

Race Recaps!!!!!

I have been falling down on my responsibilities as a blogger. I have been extremely busy over the past month. I am going to give you a recap of the races I completed since my last blog.

Sylamore 50K

This race was awesome. It took place in the beautiful Ozark National Forest. We had a huge crew from the Memphis Ultra show up to represent our town beautifully. The race started early on a cold and drizzly morning. The course is set up as an out and back layout (out 16 and back 16). I think that it was actually a little bit longer though. Anyhoo, we started out running down a stretch of paved road and bailed out onto a trail that led to a river crossing at mile 1 or so. The river was only thigh deep this year, which was great because last year it was about stomach deep. The water was a little bit cold. Directly after the river, we made our way almost straight up a rocky staircase. The views were stunning. There were huge mossy covered boulders everywhere. The forest was full of hardwoods and pine trees. The temperatures were right above freezing and it started to rain. The trail was super sloppy but I have to give a shout out to my new trail shoes. The Inov8 Mudclaws performed flawlessly. They gripped every surface that I encountered. I was able to tear through the downhills and go up steep muddy slopes without slipping. On the downhill sections, I would build so much speed that I couldn't blink for fear of missing a foot placement a tumbling down the rocky mountain. When I wasn't able to blink my eyes would start to water from the cold air hitting them. What a great feeling. Anyway, I mad it to the turnaround in 3:30:ish and I still felt great. I made mental decision to start running hard. I probably passed 15-20 people on the way back to the finish. I came 62 of 118 with a personal record of 6:28:10. The race was great. It was the first ultra that I have finished and felt like I didn't even run. We had a great time grilling out with the Memphis Ultra crew and meeting lots of stud athletes after the race.

Soon to come....50 Miles to Freedom.

Birthday Miracle

This past weekend was my birthday weekend. I turned 27 on Saturday. Yay!!!! I originally was supposed to be out of town on a company fishing trip. They changed the date at the last minute and sabotaged my plans for running in the Swamp Stomper because the registration was already closed. I e-mailed the race director, Leigh Tanner, on Friday and asked if there were any spots left and she put me on the end of the waiting list. I was notified Saturday morning that I was allowed to participate. As a birthday present, Holly and Drew paid my entry fee into the race.

The morning of the race, Holly and I struck out early and arrived with 45 minutes to spare. We sat in the truck to keep warm before the start. I have seen one account of the temperature being 12 degrees. When the race started, I warmed up within the first mile. Even though I had on gloves, the only thing that stayed cold were my hands. When they finally started to thaw out, they were throbbing so bad I almost cried. For the first nine miles of the race, I ran with Patrick, Vinnie, Michael Mobley and played leapfrog with Mike Hudson. We were moving at an easy pace and taking our time at the first three aid stations. It was after the third aid station that I felt like I needed to move faster. I decided to break away from the group and run the pace my body felt was comfortable. I was moving fairly fast and took no walk breaks on the 6.5 miles back to the halfway point. I wanted to push it and see if I could maintain a strong pace. At the 15.4 turnaround, Drew jumped in to run the second half of the race with me. I started out strong and slowly began to burn down to a fizzle. I had pushed a little too hard a little to early. Instead of building a gradually faster pace I had notched it up to quickly. I was not close to bonking but my legs just got tired. When Drew and I reached the 26.3 mile aid station I was running on empty. In my mind, the last 6.5 miles of the race seemed almost unfinishable short of a piggy back ride (I knew Drew wouldn't go for that). When we reached the last aid station with 3.5 to go, I began to do a walk/run routine. I would run about .25 miles and then walk for a minute, then strike off running again. I was able to creep into the finish at 6:49:38 with icicles hanging from my beard. I was not disappointed with the finish but I would have liked to have come in stronger.

There are several things I learned throughout the race. Don't forget to take in as much food and water as you can stand and don't run hard too early. Also, I have always wanted to go out strong to avoid getting marred back in the pack. I think that next time I will try to stay near the front. I noticed that the first half mile took me about 8.5 minutes to finish because I was stuck in a traffic jam.

Overall, the run was great, the course was fun and easy, and the support was awesome. Thanks, to everyone who came together to get me into this race.

QUEST FOR 100

In a post a long time ago, I told yall I would be putting up a list of races for 2008. I have been somewhat busy and am finally getting around to doing it. I want to start by saying that I had a great time running last year. I had so much fun that it has inspired me to become an animal on the trail. I have decided to become more focused on distance over speed. I want to try to run at least one 50K or longer each month this year. I also would like to complete my first 50 mile race. By the fall of 2008 if all goes well, I would like to try a 100 mile race. This is a huge commitment because I work very long hours and I have a new born baby girl at home. I think that I am going to have to start running in the middle of the night or something. Hopefully, I will be able to stay injury free. Anyway, here is list of races that I have planned for 2008

February 16th- Sylamore 50K

March 1st- Mississippi 50 Mile

March 16th- Germantown Half Marathon (Sidebar- This was the first race that I ever ran. I took the 5K option and ended up with a 24:01. This year I am going to try to PR the Half Marathon. My current PR is 1:44:45)

April 6- Double Death Run 30 Mile (Note: I found this date somewhere on the Internet. It was not in a spot where I would normally look. However, it is always somewhere around the first weekend in April.)

April 26- Nashville Marathon (We went to Nashville last year and had a great time. I only ran the half marathon last year. This is a fun race with bands all along the course and great aid stations.)

May- I currently have nothing on the books for May. I would love to participate in one of the triathlon relays here in Memphis. The first day is a mountain bike triathlon and the second day is a regular triathlon. I did the mountain bike last year and almost quit before I got out of the swimming portion. So this year I am looking for relay partners. I want to do the running portion, I know a biker and I need a swimmer. The mountain bike tri is a 1/3 mile swim and the next day is 1.5 K. Let me know if there are any takers.

June & July- Nothing on the books.

August- Stanky Creek 50 Mile (I ran the 50 K last year. It was my first Ultra and it was hot. The temperature was 103!!!! I will be attempting the 50 Mile this year.)

September- Nothing on the Plate.

October & November- These are the two months where I will be hopefully attempting a hundred miler. The two races I am looking at are The Arkansas Traveller or the Cactus Rose. If anyone has any input on either of these race, I would love to her it.

Well, there you go. A list of craziness. It ought to be a great year.

Happy Trails To You Until We Meet Again

Michael